New toilet guidance

I am installing 2 new toilets in a few weeks and had a few questions. First we are looking for a round bowl and standard size toilet as both bathrooms are on the smaller size. I am very confused on pricing. How come everything consumer reported rate is around $300 while when I walk into Home Depot or Lowes toilets are anywhere from $100-$500? Lowes and HD flush performance is rated on golf balls, how reliable is that? I was hoping to spend less than $300 a toilet but if a cheaper toilet would perform just as well then why wouldn't I get that? We have really old (80's) American Standard toilets and are still performing ok (although we do have the ghost flush) but I want something that will perform very good while helping the environment. Please help!

The report below is consisted of homeowner and plumbers input.
Not two guys that wear a white smock.

The best toilets for plumbers and homeowners have been the Toto line.
You won't find those at the home centers.
But then frankly, you don't find much of anything at the home centers that I would buy.
I buy my lumber at a lumber store, my carpet and tile from someone that sells those, and I get my plumbing from "plumbing" stores.

You will notice that the other "ratings" don't mention "returns" and "defect" percentages.
Consumer Reports number one rated toilets over the years have been failures.
Their number one has always slid way down.
Makes you wonder if the check bounced.

One of my big sellers is the round bowl Drake CST744S, $240
Though I sell way more of the elongated bowls at $250
I would only install a round bowl if I had to.
After all, I'm a man.

Thanks so much for the quick response. I agree that HD and Lowes are good for screws and such but appliances should be bought at local dealers. I am going to the Toto dealer on Monday (I live in CT so unfortunately purchasing from your website doesn't seem to be an option) to check everything out. Looks like it will be between the Drake and the UltraMax. I will let you know what I get!

They don't have TOTO listed yet, as far as I can see, but give them a call.

You don't really need to go to a TOTO showroom, though. Monique's in Watertown has them at the most reasonable prices in the area (other than plumber supply places). The place is half-full of TOTO toilets: